Story Time
by Souljah and a Gentleman
Summary: An emerald haired girl begs her mother to tell her another story about life on the high seas, and of course she obliges. Zoro X Robin


**Author's Note:** So like most people I read One Piece, and what I like about One Piece besides Luffy is of course Zoro just being bad ass and Robin being herself. In my opinion these two go together even if one is older but hey age is nothing but a number especially when it comes to love. This is something I can see happening some distance in the future after their adventures on the high seas calm down.

**Summary**: An emerald haired girl begs her mother to tell her another story about life on the high seas, and of course she obliges. Zoro X Robin

**Disclaimer**: I do not own One Piece, that belongs to Oda and Co. If I did own One Piece I would not have killed off Ace. Whitebeard I could but definitely not Ace.

* * *

**Story Time**

"Hey mama..."  
"Hmmmm?" the raven haired lady looked up from her book. "Can't sleep?"  
The little girl poked her head through the door; her shaking head was the response to the question. Her actions caused her mother to smile softly; she placed her book down and pushed her chair away from the desk. She smiled once again and stretched out her hands. This was the signal the little girl was waiting on as she dashed through the door, her teddy bear in tow. Her emerald hair flowed behind her; she leapt onto her mother's lap. Being the inquisitive person she was she quickly scanned the papers her mother had scattered about on her desk.

"So what are you trying to find now momma?"  
"Nothing this time, just putting together a few memoirs."

The little girl nodded and pretended to understand what her mother was talking about. She even attempted to put a few pieces of paper together to show that she was helping to organize her notes. This caused a giggle to escape her mother's mouth; in return the child gave a beaming smile.

"Hey mama?"  
"Yes dear?"  
"Tell me a story please. I want it to be a new one this time as well."  
"New hmmm? Have I told you the one about the Sage and the Swordsman?" The little girl shook her head in response. "I see, so where shall we begin?"  
"At the beginning!" she shouted enthusiastically."  
"But of course" she replied kissing her gently on her forehead

"There once was a town located on an island, deep into seas of West Blue. This town was ruled by a very gullible King who was fed lies and rumors by his evil chancellor. This chancellor wanted to rule the island but the king was loved by his many followers and the chancellor himself was despised by them. Now this Chancellor believed that there was treasure located deep in the labyrinth below the castle but nobody in the land was able to decode the message etched on the walls of the entrance. "

"But there was somebody who could decipher the map wasn't there?" interrupted the little girl.  
"Indeed." her mother then continued on the story. "For you see in this town there were people of all kinds, tall ones, short ones, skinny ones, fat ones. Those who toiled the land, those who sailed the seas, those who worked in the shops and those who sold the goods made by all. But there was a special person, one who the people on the island knew and avoided at all cost. For you see she was what people considered a witch of sorts. She walked amongst those in the town but they avoided her as much as possible. For you see, she was knowledgeable of herbs and the ways of the world. If the local doctor did not know what to do and all hope seemed lost the townsfolk sought her guidance. What made it even more terrifying to those around her was that she never sought compensation. This led to the mistrust of those in such an economically driven town. Nobody did anything for free, leading to rumors that she will one day call on the souls of those she helped to accomplish her goal. Her goal that everyone believed was a conjuring of sorts because she would always take trips into the forests late at night and return in the early morning. There had been attempts by the younger more adventurous folks in the town to find out exactly where she went, but every attempt just ended in failure. They say she would simply vanish before their eyes, or if she turned around the bend she simply disappeared. This of course didn't help with the rumors that she was witch."

"So what was she doing out there at night mama?"

"In time I will tell you, but let me finish the story."

"Ok." she simply replied.

"Now one morning, the sage was returning from the forest when she stumbled upon something completely unexpected. Sitting there in the path was a gentleman clutching what looked like swords tightly to his chest. She was about to simply pass by the gentleman, because to explain to a new person in town what it is she was doing would be too much of a hassle. That was until she noticed the dark liquid pool that stained the ground beneath him. She rested her bundles to the side and knelt down, her brow knotted in worry. She put her ear to his nostrils, her tuned hearing picked up the faint sound of breath. She opened her bundle to reveal an assortment of herbs and spices and stretched it out so she could gain a better view of her inventory. She tried to open his arms; it was more of a struggle than she anticipated. The grip on the hilts of his swords was that of a dead man. She only could position his hands in such a way so that the wound could still be inspected. The wound was deep, deeper then she expected. How was he still even breathing was beyond her knowledge.

'_His will to live must be strong_' she thought. She tore a piece of her cloak and soaked it in the water of the nearby stream. Cleaning the spot, she chewed on a combination of herbs making a paste in her mouth. Emptying the contents in her hands she smoothed it across the gash. She removed the rest of her cloak and then wrapped cloth around his body, creating a make shift dress.

'_Now how do I move him?_ 'The Sage knew she had to move him, but that was a task easier said than done. She looked around to see if she had the fortune of seeing a hunter wandering down the path on his way home. She knew that was virtually impossible, considering the time of the morning and the fact that everybody avoided this way because this was her known route. She made an attempt to carry the stranger but his dead weight was too much for her to bear. She sighed, blowing her now disheveled hair out of her face. She now faced two options, leave him here in the forest unprotected and basically at will to anyone or any creature that passed that way. Or find some way to bring him into town, the latter option being the most reasonable. She looked around to see if she could build a cart, but she didn't have the materials available. Her only choice was to get into town and then return; hopefully he would still be alive.

With dawn just creeping upon the horizon, the sage made her way into town. The early risers who were beginning to set up their wares for the business day did their best to avoid her gaze. She made it to her abode, hustling with purpose. She found the target of her search and easily discarded random items that had collected in it over time, all but one. This she thought would be useful. With the item in tow she left town once again, this time eyes being a little suspicious as to why she was carrying such a thing. As she returned to the wounded blader she felt his pulse to see if he was still alive and with a sigh of relief she found it. Now she balanced the cart and loaded the swordsman in carefully. Now using the cloth that she brought she covered the stranger in an attempt not to arouse anymore suspicion that she already would have. Using all her strength she was able to get the cart to move. Slowly gaining momentum, she navigated the cart into town. Unknown to her was that the unconscious swordsman's foot was dangling on the outside of the cart. This was something that did not go unnoticed by those setting up their stalls for the early morning sale. They whispered amongst each other, some gasping. They all came to a consensus that she had collected on a debt of hers and the body of the person was the price she asked for.

The Sage's house was a building on the far right of the town, it was a building separated from the others. A small garden grew in front while the trees of the surrounding forest provided a background for it. With one final heave she pulled the cart into her house, releasing the handles she breathed heavily to catch her breathe. She scanned the room and cleared a table what seemed long enough to hold the swordsman. Uncovering the stranger she threw his arm over her head and then dragged his dead weight over to the table and rested him on the top. Now came the next task, removing those swords from his grip. She had tried to pull it with her strength but he would not budge. Her only option was to take a cold piece of steel she had laying around the house and literally pry finger by finger off of the hilts. She rested them next to the swordsman, as she knew that they had too precious to him. With that obstruction out of the way she removed the remnants of his shirts to further inspect his body. Fortunately there seemed to be no other wounds, but it was seen that this wound was definitely not his first as his torso was full of scars.

'_He must definitely be a veteran on the battlefield. I wonder what kind of tales he would tell...what if I have brought a rogue to town?_'

The Sage was starting to doubt her decision of bringing him to the town. Her conscience then reassured her, she could not have passed him by, he was injured and she could not ignore him without feeling guilty. She hoped he was an honorable swordsman, one that would at least grant the wish of those that saved him. Her wish would be to spare the town if he did not have any noble intentions or was the leader of a band of evil doers. His wound being inflicted by the arms of justice in the world. The Sage's imagination began to run wild, concocting story after story of what kind of person the unconscious man was.

A day passed, and the sun was now setting on another one yet the stranger still laid still. The Sage had her head rested on the table that the stranger laid on. Her eyes were beginning to close prepared for the sleep the night would bring. That was until the stranger bolted up. This startled the Sage, causing her to lean back on her chair and hit the floor. The stranger looked from left to right frantically and then spotted the target of his search. He grabbed his swords and then drew one.

'Wait!' shouted the Sage. This brought the blade of the stranger to her throat.  
'Where am I?' he asked.  
'You need to sit down; your wounds are going to open. You should take it easy.' she advised  
'Where am I?' he asked once again.  
'I will answer your question, just please sit down.' she said slowly getting to her feet.  
'You take too long!' the swordsman drew his hand back to strike but he staggered and then collapsed back on the table. The Sage breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't rest for too long. She headed to a chest in the corners of the room and produced the item that would prevent this incident from happening again. She bound the swordsman to the table and treated the wound again as his sudden movement had reopened the gash. After the treatment the Sage returned to her original position, resting her head on the table to the stranger.

It didn't take as long as the first time for the stranger to stir. In a matter of hours he regained consciousness, this time he was more at ease. Groaning he attempted to rub his head but found that he was now tied down to the table. He struggled to break free but the restraints were more than enough to hold him in his weakened state.

'Oi oi!' he shouted.  
'Yes?' answered the Sage not taking her head off the table.  
'Where am I?'  
'On the island of Camtheria.'  
'Still in the Grand Line?'  
'Yes.' she answered.  
'Good. Now release me.'  
'No, your wounds have not healed.'  
'I appreciate your concern but I must join my crew.'  
'Your crew?' her interest piqued  
'Yes my crew, now release me.'  
'You are of no use to them in the state you are in now. You would not last two days at sea, so unless they are coming to pick you up. I am not releasing you.'  
The swordsman went quiet as if thinking. 'You are right; they should be coming for me so the best thing would to remain still.'  
'How will they know where you are?'  
His eyes guided her towards his swords, in particular the hilt of the green sword. A ribbon with a paper was wrapped around the scabbard.  
'A vivre card...' she whispered.  
'So you know about them?'  
'Only from books, I have yet to see one in person.'  
'I see, but now release me. These binds are uncomfortable.'  
'Only if you promise not to kill me and the townsfolk when your crew arrives.'  
'Why would I do that?'  
'Because you are a pirate, and that is what pirates do.'  
'How do you know I'm a pirate?'  
'You have a crew, your wear no uniform or no mark of the Marines or any righteous organization of justice.'  
'Righteous organization...' the stranger just laughed. 'It is not wise to believe the propaganda spread in the papers.'  
'Even in a lie, truth must be found. That way the masses would really believe.'  
'You speak words of wisdom, but as I said. Not all pirates are murderers.'  
'So you are a pirate then.' she said with a small smile on her face.  
'Yes. Now will you release me?'  
'You still have not promised.'  
'I swear on my honor not to harm you or the people of this island.'  
She eyed him warily before she untied the ropes that held him down. He slowly got up and rubbed his wrists, he winced as he felt the pain from the gash. He stood up next to her, one hand holding his bandaged torso and grabbing his swords with the others.  
'But I'm a pirate, I am evil remember.' he said with a smirk.

His joke was not well received as she jumped back, reaching for staff in the corner.

'I was not being serious, relax.' he looked around the comfy home. 'Is there anything to eat in this place?'

The Sage finally relaxed her guard, and fixed the swordsman something to eat. 'May I ask what to call you?' she asked while in the kitchen.

"Tairi" the little girl shouted interrupting her mother.  
"Tairi?" she questioned.  
"Yes, that is what I want his name to be."  
"Tairi it is then." she said with a smile, and proceeded to continue with her story.

'Tairi, just Tairi.' he said while inhaling the content of his bowl. 'What is your own?'  
'They call me the witch, or sage. Depending on who you ask.' she replied  
'What do you call yourself?'  
It had been ages since someone actually asked to hear the name given to her at birth. 'You may call me...'

"Roja" the child interjected once more.

'You may call me Roja.'  
'Roja, that is definitely a beautiful name. One that suits you well.'  
Roja could feel a slight blush form on her face but she chose to hide it.  
'So what brought you to this island Tairi?'  
'We were ambushed at sea, three ships decided to attack us during a storm. We were able to defeat them but in a last ditch effort their accursed captain attempted to gash my captain behind his back but i got in his way. As you can see this is the result. How I arrived at this island, I can only assume that I was thrown overboard and floated ashore. I do remember wandering in land, but after that it is a blur.'  
'That would explain me finding you not on the shore line but on a track path.'  
'Mind if I ask you, why they call you a witch?'  
'It's because of my knowledge of various things. Medicines, ailments, weather, finances, a lot of various things.'  
'And you know all of these things?'  
'As you can see...' she pointed to the book cases that lined the shelves 'I read a lot of books.'  
'That is definitely an understatement.'  
'So Tairi, may I ask you a small favor?'  
'What would that be?'  
'Tell me about your adventures on the high seas, about your crew and why you told me that I shouldn't trust everything I read in the papers.'  
'That is a tall order, but I can oblige. Something to pass the time until my crew arrives.'

Tairi spent the next few days telling Roja about his adventures on the high seas. From his journey to the Flying Islands to his journey to the land of the mermaids. He described in detail the life or death battles that his crew encountered. There were battles to liberate oppressed countries, to save a friend or to defend the weak. Roja listened to each tale intently; her dreams began to be filled with swashbuckling deeds and adventures on the high seas. Her walks into the forest didn't seem as long as she had something forward to look to when she came home. The stories thrilled her like she could not believe, she had never thought about life outside of Camtheria. She thought that she would live and die in the knightly town with nothing to do but help those who were desperate enough to seek her out and then die. She turned off the beaten path in the forest, moving a branch to conceal an alternate route she pressed deeper into the forest. As few minutes of traversing through the thick brush she reached her destination. In front of Roja stood a tablet, about ten feet tall. Engraved in its stone frame were symbols, symbols that no normal man could decipher. She brushed away some moss from the end of the tablet and then took a seat. From the inside of her robe she produced parchment and began to copy the symbols she just uncovered.

'So this is where you go every morning.' came a voice. Roja let out a startled scream, dropping her parchment and pen. 'Calm down it's just me.'  
Roja turned around to see Tairi behind her. 'How did you find me?'  
"I followed you.'  
'But nobody was behind me.'  
'You thought nobody was around you. So you sit her and copy the inscriptions on the tomeglyphs.'  
Roja's eyes widened. 'How do you know what they are called?'  
'We saw a few of these on our travels, the ones on the floating islands were massive.'  
'You saw more of these?' Roja stood up from the sheer excitement.  
'That's what I just said.' Tairi noticed her more than obvious reaction. 'You can understand these?'  
'Yes I can, it takes me some time to decipher but if I copy it down I can.'  
'Then let this only be known to you.' warned Tairi.  
'Why?'  
'These are said to contain the story of the real world. Powerful secrets and this knowledge is forbidden by the government.'

Meanwhile in the castle of the king...

'Chancellor, none of our scholars can understand a word of the script you gave them.'  
' Waste of breath, those fools. How can the brightest minds in the land not know this text?'  
'Sir there is one more option we can try...'  
'What is that?'  
'The Town Witch, she is said to be knowledgeable of many things. Perhaps she might know this ancient mystery.'  
'Is that so? Then bring her to me.'  
'Yes sir.'

Night had now fallen; Tairi and Roja had made their way back to her home.

'You want to hear more of my adventures?'  
'If you don't mind telling me them'  
'l might have a few left, but may I ask you one thing?'  
'Yes?'  
'Come with me.'  
Roja had a puzzled look in her eyes. 'Come with you?'  
'Yes come with me, when my crew arrives come explore the high seas.'  
'Who says I want to? I'm content with life here.'  
'Why are you lying to yourself? I see the way your eyes shine when I tell you stories of my adventures. Just come with me, I am sure fate brought me to you.'  
'I don't know. I might get seasick or your crew might not like me.' she replied, searching for any excuse she could imagine.  
Tairi could see the conflict in her eyes and decided to not press it any further. 'Just think about it.' He then decided to change topic. 'Now you know what goes well with tales, ale.'  
'I'm afraid I don't have any.' said Roja, her shoulders drooping as she was saddened that she might disappoint Tairi. Then a light bulb went off in her head. 'But there is an ale house a few houses down. Just sit here I will go and get some.' she said excitedly, as she gathered a few coins from a container.  
'It's not necessary...'  
'Don't worry it has been a while since I had a reason to drink. Ale with friends is worth more than a five minute journey.'

Tairi smiled he watched her slender figure leave the door. As she strolled towards the bar, Roja was beaming. Her face was actually sore because her muscles were not used to her smiling so wide. Her smile soon disappeared, as she neared the ale house her eyes spotted the soldiers coming around the corner. The leader asked a drinker a question and he turned and pointed directly at Roja. Her eyes grew with fright as the soldiers dressed in the kings armor marched towards her and the senior officer yelling out.

'Halt!'

Roja of course did the opposite, she turned and ran for the safety of her home but she was caught a few houses before hers. She was immediately bound and carted off to the castle. Tairi was waiting in Roja's house and as time went by he started to worry.

'_She said that it was only a few houses down, but it feels as an hour has passed. It couldn't be that busy_.' With his worry getting the best of him, Tairi emerged from the house and headed to the ale house. Tairi expected it to be crowded but it was drier than the deserts of Belesta. He made his way to the counter and asked.

'Good evening, have you seen Roja?'  
'Is she a stranger like you stranger? I do not know of any Roja in this town.'  
That was when Tairi remembered that nobody called her by that name. 'The Witch of Camtheria. Where is she?'  
'Oh, it seems that she hexed the wrong person as the castle guards have taken her away.'  
'For what reasons?'  
'Who knows? I frankly do not care. Good riddance to the nuisance.'

Tairi resisted the urge to floor the bar smith, but he gave into his temptation and punched him squarely against his jaw. He made his way to the town square, and made a b-line directly for the castle. Of course he was stopped by the castle guards and asked what his business was.

'I have come for Roja, what have you done to her?'  
'Nobody has come to this castle!'  
'But the townsfolk saw her taken in the streets. Where else could she have been taken?'  
'I swear on my honor as a knight of this castle that nobody was brought here this night. Not a member from our guards was moved, and not a request made from by the king. I the Captain of the Guard can speak to it!'  
'So where is she?!'  
'I know not who you speak of, but cease your actions before you are arrested.'

Tairi backed off, he knew that getting arrested would not help his situation but he definitely was going to return. He hurried back to Roja's house and picked up his swords, he strapped them on and headed to the forest behind. He took the long route, dashing through thickets he appeared on the side of the castle. Jumping from tree to tree he quickly landed on top of the castle's walls and laid wait. He observed the guard's pattern and as they were memorized he launched into the castle yard and went for cover. Patrolling around the perimeter of the castle, one spot caught his eye. A path into the forest was heavily guarded, even more than the castle gate.

'The Knight Captain did say that he knew nothing, but if she came through that entrance and was snuck inside there. There would be no way he would see her coming in.'

Meanwhile in the dungeon of the castle...

'Let me go!' screamed Roja. 'I have done nothing wrong!' she struggled with her captors and was able to break their grasp. She attempted to run but was easily caught and dragged forward. Then suddenly she came to a halt. She was then forcefully turned around and in front of her eyes stood the chancellor.

'Good afternoon Witch, it is a pleasure to see that you accepted my invitation.'  
'You call being captured in the middle of the street like a criminal an invitation.'  
'At least I waited until night, and not during the glaring sun. Then you may have looked like a real criminal.'  
'No that would be that nobody could see the injustice you committed.'  
'Nobody would have cared if it was you.' the Chancellor snapped back. Those words cut into Roja's heart as the fight in her eyes dimmed significantly. This brought an evil smirk to the Chancellor's face. 'Well enough pleasantries let us be on our way.'  
'Where are you taking me?'  
The Chancellor just looked at her and smiled. 'Come along' he said ignoring her.

After a few minutes of walking the Chancellor waved his hand to stop his guards. He took a few steps and then removed the covering that was in front of him. What he revealed caused Roja's eyes to widen, and a smirk to come across the Chancellor's face.

'You know what this is don't you?' he asked, noting her reaction.  
Roja opened her mouth to speak but remembered the words of Tairi. 'This is the first time I have seen something like this.'  
'Your eyes tell a lie, your reaction gave away your true emotions.'  
'I am a scholar and to see something like this is truly amazing. I am curious to know what it is exactly.'  
The calm demeanor on the Chancellor's face turned to one of fury. 'Listen here witch!' he grabbed her face. 'You will tell me what this tablet says. Nobody knows you are here and nobody cares. You can tell me and be set free, or I can hold you here until you die.'  
'But I really do not know.' she pleaded, her eyes starting to water.  
The Chancellor let go of her face, and then slapped her so hard that she fell on the floor.

'You will stay in...'

*BOOM*

A large crash was heard down the hall, the clashing of metal echoed through the passageway. The Chancellor fearful that the King had found him out, sent two of his guards to find out what was happening. They did not return. The sound of steps could be heard, coming closer. Their pace increasing and then they slowed to a walking pace.

'Let her go.' came a voice from the shadows. This voice was filled with malice and venom, the demand was genuine.  
'I do not follow the orders of ghost.' said the Chancellor in response.  
'This is not a request from the after-life.' The source of the voice stepped out from shadows.  
'Tairi!' screamed Roja.

Tairi looked at Roja on the floor, he noticed the bruise on her face and the murderous intent radiated his body.

'Who did this to her?' he asked.  
'Well, well. We did not know she had a friend in this whole town. If you must know, it was I who did it.' confessed the Chancellor.

His lack of battle on the front lines was made evident as his soldier's cowered underneath the force that Tairi was producing, but the Chancellor was completely ignorant and continued to provoke him.

'As you can see, she has a civic duty to perform. Please return in a few days after we are finished using her if you don't mind. Now if you would...'

In a blink Tairi had used the back of his blades to render the entire troop of the Chancellor unconscious. His blade then rested on the Chancellor's throat, which was the reason he stopped mid-sentence.

'Tairi don't kill him. If you do, you will have unwanted blood on your hands.'  
'You are lucky that she is here.' He dropped the blade of his sword but not being one to let deeds go unpunished. He drove the hilt of his sword into the Chancellor's stomach causing the Chancellor to collapse on the floor curled in pain and struggling to breathe. Needless to say the resounding force that Tairi used to open the door to the hidden chamber did not go unnoticed by the palace guard. That was completely evident as the pointed spears were waiting to greet Tairi and Roja at the entrance.

'I recognize you, you were the stranger that was asking questions about the Town Witch.' that was when the Captain of the Guard saw the head of Roja hiding behind the stranger. 'And it seems she was indeed here.'  
'It seems you are shocked that she was in the castle. Or your word is not something you keep?'  
'I swear that I did not know of her arrival into this castle and by your location she was definitely brought in secret. This whole incident is something of concern. I need you to surrender your weapons and come before the king. If you are innocent, the king will surely release you back into the town.'  
'Forgive me captain, if I decline your offer. Something definitely reeks in this place and I'm taking Roja with me.'

Tairi looked at the sheer number of guards in front of him. Backing up his statement was definitely going to be harder than he thought. Roja who definitely was not used to these kinds of situations found herself clutching onto the shoulders of Tairi unsure as what else to do. The situation seemed gloomy, that was until Tairi heard a voice that was music to his ears.

'TAIRI!' bellowed a voice.  
He looked up to the source of the voice to see a lanky individual standing a top of the wall his hat concealing his face but not enough to hide his smile.  
'Captain!'  
'Hey, he isn't the only one who came.' came a voice from behind the guards that caused them to turn around. Behind them stood five other individuals all bearing the same mark as that on Tairi's shirt. That was when it dawned on the captain of the guard realized who they were messing with.

'You...you...you are the notorious Black Cay Pirates! I recognize that emblem anywhere. Get them!'  
'Normally when people hear our names they tend to run in terror, not come at us. I guess we are losing face in this part of the ocean.' complained one of the crew members as he knocked out one of the onrushing guards.

In a matter of minutes, only the Captain of the Guard stood. He was definitely in shock at how quickly his men were dispatched.

'This...this can't be...' he stuttered.  
'Tairi, come on. The ship's waiting.' shouted the man still fixated on top of the castle wall.  
Tairi walked past the completely frozen Captain, Roja followed behind him bowing in apology to him as she passed. The Captain only could watch as the group exited the castle walls, but that was when his sense of duty kicked in. From his side he released a horn and blew into it signaling an emergency.

'Looks like we have worn out our welcome.' said the captain with a toothy smile.

The group of pirates ran full speed to the shore. Roja found herself running with them a smile on her face. She turned and looked at the unbridled joy that was written across the members faces. They didn't care that they were being pursued by the island's Royal Guard. They were simply elated that they were reunited with a lost friend. Roja looked towards her hand clasped by Tairi's and a feeling of doubt began to creep inside her.

In what seemed like mere seconds the group had reached the shore. There was their boat moored further out to sea, their longboat docked on the sand waiting for their arrival. The other members simply hopped on board, Tairi began the motion to follow ensuite but stopped in his tracks as he felt Roja's hand slip from his grasp.

'What's the matter?' he asked to Roja as she stood there.  
'I can't' she said.  
'You can't what?' asked a confused Tairi.  
'You guys coming or what Tairi? Those guards aren't that pathetic.' shouted a member of his crew.  
'Pipe down will ya'!' he shouted in response.  
'I can't go with you all. I'm not one of you. I just wouldn't belong!' she screamed.  
'I'm sorry to break up this little indecisive drama, but I think we have definitely over stayed our welcome.' came from another crewmate.

Tairi looked further up the path they came from only to see that the Royal Guard was definitely prepared as they were bringing their cannons and all of their long guns.

'Shove off!' shouted Tairi.  
'Hey that's my line!' shouted the captain.

Roja looked down at the sand beneath her feet and tears started to flow. She wanted to go, but she knew she did not belong. She didn't belong anywhere, not this town and apparently not anywhere in this world. It would be better if the guards just captured her and threw her back in the cell so the world would completely forget about her existence. That was until she felt herself being picked up bridal style.

'Oy, oy. Crying already and we haven't even gotten on board yet.'  
'Tairi, but why?'  
'Did you really think I was going to leave you to stay in this accursed town? They don't value the treasure that was in their clutches. And the last time I checked, I was a pirate and we tend to thrive off of plundering and pillaging villages. Just think of it as you being stolen away to sea by me.'

The words sank into Roja's heart, and with a huge smile she wrapped her arms around Tairi's neck. 'Thank you.'

As the landing party docked with the ship, the rest of the crew welcomed them on board.

'Well look at what we have here, the swordsman washed over board and came back with a mermaid.'  
'Not now, will ya.' replied Tairi.  
'Aren't you going to introduce us to the lady?'  
'Fine fine, calm down. Everyone this is Roja, she is the newest member of the Black Cay's. If that is fine with you captain?'  
The captain seemed as if he was pondering for a moment. 'New member, means welcoming party, which means more meat. Decisions, decisions...' he paused momentarily. 'LET"S PARTY!'

The entire crew broke out into cheers, she was greeted by all, hugged, even kissed by a few. The women started to call her sister and the men welcomed her from a far, mainly because of Tairi's presence.

'It seems you have quite a reputation.' she said with a smile.  
'They know better is all.'  
'Now, before you went and got kidnapped by those guards. I think we were going to discuss some more of my adventures over some ale.' he handed her a mug of their finest and motioned for her to sit.

For the first time in her life, Roja felt that she belonged somewhere. She finally understood what she read in a book years ago, nobody was born to be alone.

"The end!" exclaimed the young girl. "Mama, you always tell the best stories. Daddy's own have too much sword fighting."

That was when the duo heard a noise, the both looked up to see who it was that had opened the door.

"So you don't like my stories then Kuina?"  
"PAPA!" shouted the young girl as she flung herself at him. The moss green haired gentleman caught her and squeezed her tightly.  
"Close your eyes." the young girl did as she was instructed. "Now open them."  
Her eyes grew wider than he thought was possible. "Is this mine?"  
"Yes it is."  
"It's the same colored handle as yours! Thanks Papa!" The little girl then darted off to the dojo to practice with the sword her father just gave to her.

"Here I was trying to get her to go back to bed, and you just come and wind her right back up."  
"She's going to tire herself out in a minute or two, a real sword is heavier than a practice one made out of wood."  
"Where did you get it my wondering swordsman?"  
"Let's just say the spoils of war." Zoro leaned in and kissed his wife gently on the lips. "I'm home, Robin."  
"Welcome home darling. Now tell me about this war of yours. I need new content for our bundle of joy."

* * *

**Author's Note: **There you have it, nice lil fluff of a story. Something I believe will happen to them in the future if Oda doesnt kill them off...


End file.
